Trump Assails News Media for Coverage of First Lady

U.S. first lady Melania Trump appeared in public Wednesday for the first time since undergoing a kidney procedure nearly a month ago.

She accompanied President Donald Trump to the headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, where they were briefed on the 2018 hurricane season.

“She had a little rough patch, but she’s doing great,” the president said at the start of the meeting.

The first lady did not make any remarks at the meeting.

Melania Trump’s absence from public appearances touched off various conspiracy theories on the Internet, drawing rebuke from the president and the first lady herself.

Hours before the FEMA briefing, Trump tweeted that media organizations had been “unfair” and ‘vicious” to his wife.

He said the first lady was “doing really well” and accused news organizations of reporting erroneous accounts regarding her condition and whereabouts after undergoing the kidney procedure, which was followed by a five-day hospital stay.

The president said journalists saw Melania Trump “walking merrily along” in the White House last week but failed to report the sighting because doing so would have ruined their “sick narrative” that she was ill and had moved out of the White House.

The first lady remained out of public view for more than three weeks after her hospitalization before appearing at a private White House reception on Monday.

As her absence at public events increasingly drew scrutiny, Melania Trump criticized the media on Twitter. She said reporters were “working overtime” speculating about her, adding that she was “feeling great.”

Melania Trump’s spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, confirmed Sunday that the first lady would not accompany the president to the G-7 summit this week in Canada or the planned North Korean summit in Singapore on June 12.